EDITORIAL: 2012 was full of bright spots, dark clouds

Published: Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, December 31, 2012 at 8:30 p.m.

Exactly why people believed that a Stone Age culture could accurately predict the day on which the world would end, we’re not sure. We’re not surprised that the Mayans were wrong, and life goes on as dawn breaks on 2013. Thus, handed the luxury of continued existence, we choose to take one last look back on 2012.

Nationally, Republicans are still arguing over whether the world actually did end. The Democrats seemed gift-wrapped for the taking with a faltering economy that usually spells doomsday for the party in power.

But the backlash against President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act that led to Republicans seizing control of the House of Representatives in 2010 peaked and then receded. Obama seized on gaffes that appeared to make wealthy businessman Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger, appear out of touch and parlayed his overwhelming popularity among young people, minorities and single women into a victory. He will attempt to use that momentum to propel his legislative agenda.

Republicans might be on shaky ground nationally, but in Alabama and throughout the South, they have taken over. Republicans hold every statewide office and control the Alabama Legislature with a supermajority. Democrats continue to lose ground, and Alabama is essentially a one-party state again.

In local elections, voters were reluctant to change. For the first time in several election cycles, Northport voters returned the mayor and a majority of the City Council to office. County voters returned Probate Judge Hardy McCollum to office for his seventh term as he defeated Sheriff Ted Sexton in a landslide. Countywide offices remained unchanged, and the two new county commissioners replaced retiring officeholders.

Tuscaloosa County residents marked the first anniversary of the devastating April 27, 2011, tornadoes. Most of the debris has been hauled away, and some notable reconstruction efforts are under way. But noticeable holes in the landscape remain, particularly in Alberta and Holt, where progress toward rebuilding is slow, and some criticism has been directed toward city officials over their efforts to regulate the rebuilding process.

It was an exceptional year for the University of Alabama’s athletic teams. UA began and ended the year winning championships. In January, the 2011 edition of the Crimson Tide capped the story of its rise from the tornado’s devastation by winning the BCS National Championship Game in a shutout over LSU. In December, the Tide crowned the year by winning the SEC championship in a squeaker over the University of Georgia in Atlanta.

Between those two big football games, the women’s gymnastics team, the women’s softball team and the women’s golf team all won national championships for a record-setting year. It was a bright spot during a year of dimming economic hopes and bitter political partisanship.

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